Will Maroni Kill Oswald's Mother On 'Gotham'? It Might Be a Key Point In His Change From "Cobblepot" To "Penguin"

We haven't seen much real evolution from Oswald Cobblepot in the last few episodes of Gotham, ever since he took over Fish Mooney's position a few episodes ago. Maroni, who he betrayed back in the Jack Gruber/Electrocutioner days, has become a constant threat, and the mobster has taken so long to really put his plans into action that you know he's going to make it count. But would Maroni kill Penguin's mother? It's really being hinted at in the trailers and clips released in advance of this week's episode that Gertrud will be Maroni's avenue back into Oswald's life, after Cobblepot has cannily avoided his attempts to sabotage him so far. It seems like Oswald has barely left the club in the past few episodes, and he was hardly in the most recent episode. So I'm ready to see his next step in becoming the Penguin, the most fearsome and successful club owner in Gotham City.

Since we saw him betray Fish and Maroni, seemingly with no regrets, it's seemed like the only person Penguin cares about at all is his mother, and I don't think Maroni would hesitate to destroy that bond. I know he is frustrated that he was fooled by a total organized crime n00b, but going after the guy's mom seems like a real low blow. However, this could be a significant step on Penguin's journey. Check out how nervous he is at the idea of Gertrud and Maroni sharing a drink at his club in the preview below.

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If Oswald's mother is killed, this could be the thing that ignites real evil in him. We've seen Oswald be pretty selfish and mercurial, but we haven't really seen him express any real inhumanity. Actually, that's not true — we did see his ruthless murder of the contract robbers he hired to steal from Maroni's restaurant, which was his foot in the door. And he killed that guy for a dishwashing gig, too, so maybe a more accurate assessment is that lately, Penguin's been more human than Arctic bird. And in order to get Maroni away from his mother, it looks like he's going to hire another contract criminal — one who's known as the best "gun and knife [man] in the city."

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I don't really think that killing Maroni is going to be as simple as Oswald thinks it is. And I also doubt that Falcone will be happy that an underling is once again betraying his orders to carry out a costly assassination. While Oswald's been pretty lucky so far, that luck very well might be running out. The season could end with not only Maroni killing the Penguin's mother, but also Oswald Cobblepot finding himself without a job and two very angry mobsters looking to destroy his career. To me, that sounds like an amazing place to end Gotham Season 1.